D28 - Podium "Singer-Songwriter" vs. Huss & Dalton TDR

D28 - Podium "Singer-Songwriter" vs. Huss & Dalton TDR

If you are looking at this thread, you are hopefully familiar with one or the other. Not having a chance to play either, I was curious as to the differences. Similarly priced they are but the clips on Podiums website sure make that Martin Custom sound awful good. Plus the guitar gets wonderful reviews on AGF. But I am hearing similar stories about the H&D. Sure wish I lived closer to those guitars. I am particularly curious as to the neck profiles. I have a 1936 0-17 that, for me, has a most wonderful neck. Looking to get a dread, had a D-18GE but I was not enamored by the neck, nor the 'hog sound. Prefer a RW dread. My OM28 Marquis neck, however, seems comfortable. Looking for both a fingerpicker and a strummer. Any and all input appreciated.ThanksJerry

Tone is hard to describe, and I haven't played them side by side... so neck profile I'll speak to. (They both sound great, obviously! The thing that distinguishes the Martin is the Englemann top, vs Sitka on the H&D.)

Anyway, I've generally not been a fan of Martin's Low Profile neck in the 1-3/4" size (used to have an OM-21, and sold it because of the neck), but I've played a few of the Podium customs with this profile, and I don't seem to have a problem. Very comfortable. Maybe they've started giving them a little more meat in the middle. I remember the OM-21's neck felt very flat.

The H&D neck is 1-23/32", which is right in between the 1-3/4" and 1-11/16" (yeah, duh, but just in case you didn't want to do the math)... The neck feels pretty much "just right" for bluegrass. (Martin's 1-11/16" necks always felt cramped to me.)

String spacing at the saddle, though... I can't remember on the H&D. I think it's probably 2-3/16", but I might be wrong. The Podium Martin has a slightly wider 2-1/4" at the saddle, which I really like for fingerpicking.

The Martin custom is a cool guitar, and it sounded wonderful, but it's pretty dearly priced at $3000. You could get a really nice used D-28 Marquis for that, I think. But there's something really nice about that Englemann. I'd definitely consider it if I was in the market.

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